KAPOW
WHAT IS KAPOW?
Kaopw is a comprehensive curriculum framework designed for primary school students aged 4 to 11 years old. It encourages inquiry-based learning, and promotes the development of key skills, knowledge, and understanding across a broad range of subjects. These include: science, geography, history, art, international understanding, design technology and innovation, music and health and wellbeing.
INTENT
At Stoke Damerel Primary Academy, our curriculum is delivered in partnership with KAPOW, which combines academic rigour with real-world application, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and a love for learning in all students. Through this dynamic collaboration, we aim to equip learners with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to thrive in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Our mission is to create an inclusive and supportive learning environment where every student can reach their full potential. Through our curriculum, children - including the most disadvantaged pupils, the most able pupils and pupils with SEND - receive personalised learning through adaptive teaching and enrichment opportunities.
As our curriculum is both spiral in nature and progressive, they remember 'golden nuggets' of information (key knowledge) for each subject and develop subject-specific skills.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our curriculum follows a sequence of mapped out objectives, which ensures full coverage of the Key Stage One and Two National Curriculum (2014) statutory requirements.
Lessons are taught in a logical progression, systematically and explicitly enough for all pupils to acquire and build on their knowledge, skills and understanding. All lessons follow a recognisable sequence:
- Recap and recall
- Attention grabber
- Main event
- Wrapping up
Throughout each Kapow unit, teachers employ a wide range of Assessment for Learning strategies to support and challenge all learners and check pupils’ understanding. Teachers use this knowledge of their learners to help pupils embed and use knowledge fluently.
IMPACT
Children will have a developed sense of international identity and heritage, as well as foster a tolerance and respect for the cultures and peoples represented in the past.
Well-constructed and well-taught lessons have led to achieving good results in each of the aforementioned subject areas (recorded on the OTrack assessment analysis system).
All pupils present their understanding, findings, interpretations and opinions well through speaking, writing, computing and a variety of artistic media.
As the child moves through school, they can recall key knowledge (Golden Nuggets of information), and have developed key skills which they apply to their next sequence of learning.
PUPIL COMMENTS
“I enjoy having debates about important topics and learning about things that I normally would not find out about”.
“The tasks are always enjoyable for everyone – even if you find the subject hard”.
“I like when you learn different stuff”.
“Rather than you just doing it [a task], teachers are really good at teaching you step by step. That is why you can achieve it”.
“Teachers don’t make it [learning] boring for you, they make it really fun”.
“You have to have to work with a teammate a lot of the time - it is brilliant to be able to work with your friends to get the job done”.
“It is really good for all ages of children at our school because you have lots of fun in the lessons, so it doesn’t feel like working at all”.
“A lot of the time, you use the whole of the school grounds to do your lessons: we get out and about”.